Method for providing electrical connections to spaced conductive lines

ABSTRACT

An integrated circuit and a method of formation provide a contact area formed at an angled end of at least one linearly extending conductive line. In an embodiment, conductive lines with contact landing pads are formed by patterning lines in a mask material, cutting at least one of the material lines to form an angle relative to the extending direction of the material lines, forming extensions from the angled end faces of the mask material, and patterning an underlying conductor by etching using said material lines and extension as a mask. In another embodiment, at least one conductive line is cut at an angle relative to the extending direction of the conductive line to produce an angled end face, and an electrical contact landing pad is formed in contact with the angled end face.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments described herein relate generally to the fabrication ofintegrated circuits, and more specifically to providing electricalconnections to spaced conductive lines, e.g. spaced parallel lines, inintegrated circuits.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Electrically conductive lines form many common components of integratedcircuits. Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) circuitry, for example,incorporates multiple parallel conductive lines to form wordlines andbitlines. In order to increase capacity and accommodate smaller devices,there is constant pressure to increase the density of components onthese and other circuits. The continual reduction in feature sizesplaces greater demands on the techniques used to form the features.

Photolithography is a commonly used technique for patterning integratedcircuit features. One example of a photolithographic method for formingconductive lines using conventional photolithographic techniques isillustrated in FIGS. 1A through 1D. FIG. 1A shows a substrate 11, suchas a semiconductor substrate or an insulating material substrate. Forforming word lines on a semiconductor substrate 11, materials aresequentially deposited over a semiconductor substrate 11, including agate oxide material 31, a polysilicon material 35, a metal silicidematerial 37, and an oxide top material 41. The last set of materialsdeposited comprise a photo patterning stack, which may includephotoresist anti-reflective coatings and hardmask materials. Anyphotoresist materials 33 may be used for the photo patterning stack,including positive photoresist materials (such as DNQ-Novolac) andnegative photoresist materials (such as SU-8). In this example, anegative photoresist is used, so that when the photoresist material 33is exposed to light through a mask (at portions 60, 61) and developed,the area that has not been exposed to light is dissolved.

FIG. 1B shows the remaining photoresist material 33 after unexposedportions of the material have been removed. The remaining photoresistmaterial 33 is used as an etch mask for an etching process. In theetching process, portions of the of the gate oxide 31, polysilicon 35,metal silicide 37 and oxide top material 41 that are not covered by thephotoresist material 31 are removed by, for example, wet or dry chemicaletch. After the etch, the remaining photoresist material 33 isdissolved. FIG. 1C illustrates a cross sectional view of the resultingstack. Once the desired layers have been patterned, an encapsulationinsulating material 51 can be deposited and etched. Any suitableinsulating material 51, such as an oxide, may be used. FIG. 1D shows aninsulating material 51 that has been deposited over the materials andetched from the substrate 11. The encapsulation covers the top and bothsides of the underlying materials 31, 35, 37, and 41. Other knowntechniques for forming an encapsulation insulating material 51 over thematerials 31, 35, 37 and 41 can also be used.

There are limitations on how close line features, such as conductivelines, can be patterned using such known photolithographic techniques.The size of line features on an integrated circuit are conventionallydescribed by their “pitch,” which is the distance between an identicalpoint on two neighboring features. Features are typically defined byspaces between adjacent features, and so the pitch can be viewed as thesum of the width of a line feature (x in FIG. 1D) and the width of thespace separating that line feature from a neighboring line feature (y inFIG. 1D). The “half pitch” is half the sum of the feature width x andthe width y of the space between features. Due to factors such as opticsand light or radiation wavelength, there is a minimum pitch below whichline features cannot be reliably formed using conventionalphotolithographic techniques. Conventional photolithographic techniques,one example of which is illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1D, can form parallelspaced conductive lines with a half pitch as low as about 45 nm. Moreadvanced photolithographic techniques, such as double patterning andspacer pitch doubling, enable the formation of conductive lines with ahalf pitch as low as about 20 nm. Examples of these techniques can befound in U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,649 to Huang (double-patterning), and U.S.Pat. No. 5,328,810 to Lowrey et al. (spacer pitch doubling).

Recently developed non-lithographic techniques, such as polymer selfassembly, have also made it possible to form parallel conductive lineswith even smaller spacing between adjacent lines. For example, usingblock copolymer (BCP) self assembly, conductive lines with a half pitchbelow 20 nm are achievable. FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate patterns formedusing BCP self assembly techniques. The process of formingself-assembled patterns involves the deposition of a thin BCP filmcomposed of, for example, polystyrene (PS) and polymethylmethacrylate(PMMA) (referred to as PS-b-PMMA). This is followed by thermal annealingabove the glass transition temperature of the BCP. The quality of theresulting pattern depends on process conditions including filmthickness, annealing time, and annealing temperature. FIG. 2Aillustrates BCP cylinders 80 (comprising, for example, PS) formed in amatrix phase material 82 (comprising, for example PMMA). Notice that thecylinders do not naturally align in a symmetrical pattern. Variousmethods can be employed in order to control the orientation of thecylinders, including the use of external thermal or electric fields,shear stress or flow, chemical nanopatterning, or graphoepitaxy. FIG. 2Billustrates parallel spaced copolymer cylinders 80 formed using agraphoepitaxy technique, wherein surface relief (in the form of trenches84) is used to induce orientation.

Once formed, the BCP cylinders 80 can be used as a sacrificial templatefor patterning underlying materials, similar to the way photoresistmaterial is used in conventional photolithographic methods. Toaccomplish this, the PMMA material is chemically removed by exposure toUV light and immersion in a developer, such as an acetic acid developer.The remaining PS cylinders can then be used as a mask to etch underlyingmaterials, such as a conductive material or (more typically) a hardmask.BCP cylinders 80 can also be metalized to function as conductive lines.BCP cylinders 80 can be metalized by, for example, soaking the cylindersin an acidic metal salt solution. For more information on BCP selfassembly techniques, see C. T. Black, et al., Polymer Self Assembly inSemiconductor Microelectronics, 51 IBM J. Res. & Dev. 605 (IBM 1997) andJ. Chai, et al., Assembly of Aligned Linear Metallic Patterns onSilicon, 2 Nature Nanotechnology 500 (Nature Publishing Group 2007).

As techniques such as double patterning, spacer pitch doubling, and BCPself-assembly enable the creation of more closely spaced conductivelines, it becomes increasingly difficult to make an electricalconnection to a particular line without overlapping and shorting betweenadjacent lines. Using traditional lithographic techniques, electricalconnection pad sites also known as contact landing pads are too large tomake contact with only a single conductive line in a group of closelyspaced conductive lines. Present lithography technology does not havethe resolution or alignment capability to print the patterns necessaryto make connection sites for these smaller features. Thus, there existsa need for a technique to make electrical connections to closely spacedconductors and which may also be used to make electrical connections toany spaced apart parallel conductors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A through 1D illustrate a conventional photolithographic methodof forming conductive lines over a substrate.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate self-assembled block copolymer (BCP)patterns.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate top down and cross-sectional views ofparallel mask lines formed on a substrate.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate top down and cross-sectional views ofparallel mask lines formed on a substrate covered with a photoresistmaterial.

FIGS. 5A through 5C illustrate top down and cross-sectional views ofparallel mask lines partially covered by a cutting mask.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate top down and cross-sectional views of masklines after etching angled line ends using the cutting mask illustratedin FIGS. 5A through 5C.

FIG. 7 illustrates a top down view of an embodiment with parallel masklines having angled faces and isotropically grown contact landing padmasks.

FIG. 8 illustrates a top down view of an embodiment with parallel masklines having angled faces and anisotropically grown contact landing padmasks.

FIGS. 9A through 9C illustrate perspective and cross-sectional views ofan embodiment with parallel conductive lines with electrical contactlanding pad areas formed by using mask lines and contact landing padmasks as an etch mask.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate cross-sectional views of the formation ofan electrical connection to a contact landing pad.

FIGS. 11A through 11C illustrate perspective and cross-sectional viewsof an embodiment with single-layer conductive lines.

FIGS. 12A through 12C illustrate perspective and cross-sectional viewsof an embodiment using a cutting mask as an insulating material toconfine growth of mask pads.

FIG. 13 illustrates a perspective view of an embodiment with parallelBCP cylinders having angled faces and isotropically grown mask pads.

FIG. 14 illustrates a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 13after the BCP cylinders and respective mask pads have been used as anetch mask to etch underlying conductive materials.

FIG. 15 illustrates a perspective view of example conductive lines aftercutting angled line ends in accordance with another embodiment.

FIG. 16 illustrates a perspective view of an embodiment with parallelconductive lines having angled faces and isotropically grown electricalcontact landing pads.

FIGS. 17A and 17B illustrate an example technique for forming electricalconnections to the electrical contact landing pads formed in FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 illustrates a perspective view of an embodiment with parallelconductive lines having angled faces and anisotropically grownelectrical contact landing pads.

FIG. 19 illustrates a perspective view of another embodiment with asingle metal layer forming conductive lines having angled faces andanisotropically grown electrical contact landing pads.

FIG. 20 illustrates a perspective view of an embodiment using a cuttingmask as an insulating material to confine growth of electrical contactlanding pads.

FIG. 21 illustrates a perspective view of an embodiment with parallelBCP cylinders forming conductive lines with angled faces andisotropically grown electrical contact landing pads.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments described herein address the problems with currenttechniques for making electrical connections to closely spacedconductive lines, e.g. parallel lines with spacing of less than 45 nm inwidth, and provide electrical connections to such closely spacedconductive lines. The embodiments described herein can also be used tomake electrical connections to any spaced conductive lines includingthose formed using conventional photolithographic techniques.

It should be understood that embodiments of the invention are notlimited by the example embodiments described herein and that changes canbe made thereto. The embodiments described herein can be applied to anyintegrated circuit that has spaced lines, and is particularly suitablefor making connections to parallel conductive lines including closelyspaced parallel conductive lines, for example, parallel conductive lineshaving a spacing of 45 nm or less between them, and more particularly tosuch conductive lines having a spacing of 20 nm or less between them.These embodiments are particularly well suited for application to memorytechnology such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and other memorydevices, which contain closely spaced access lines, for examplewordlines and data/source lines, for example bitlines, and to otherintegrated circuit structures having closely spaced parallel conductivelines.

The term “substrate” in the following description refers to anysupporting material suitable for fabricating an integrated circuit,typically a semiconductor material, but not necessarily so. A substratemay be silicon-based, may include epitaxial layers of silicon supportedby a base semiconductor foundation, can be sapphire-based,silicon-on-insulator (SOI), metal, polymer, or any other materialssuitable for supporting an integrated circuit. When reference is made toa semiconductor substrate in the following description, previous processsteps may have been utilized to form regions or junctions in or over abase semiconductor or foundation.

Example embodiments are now described with reference to the accompanyingfigures wherein like reference numbers are used consistently for likefeatures throughout the drawings. FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate top downand cross-sectional views of parallel spaced mask lines 13 formed overblanket deposited gate stack materials 90, for example, gate stackmaterials 90 comprising a gate oxide 31, a polysilicon 35, a metalsilicide 37, and an oxide top material 41 formed over a semiconductorsubstrate 11. Though shown here over gate stack materials 90 on asemiconductor substrate 11, the mask lines 13 could be formed above anyconductive material of an integrated circuit, including a metal layer.The mask lines 13 comprise a layer of mask material 73 encapsulated byan encapsulation insulating material 51, such as an oxide. The maskmaterial 73 may be any material suitable for use as an etch mask,including photoresist, hardmask, and processed BCP materials, asexamples. The mask lines 13 can be formed by any now known or laterdeveloped techniques, including photolithographic techniques and BCPtechniques and others used to fabricate closely spaced lines. The masklines 13 are arranged, in this embodiment, in parallel and extendlinearly in one extending direction 29, with a width x and a space ybetween them. For mask lines 13 formed using current double patterningand spacer pitch doubling techniques, the total mask line width x andspace y between mask lines may be between 90 nm (a half pitch of 45 nm)and 40 nm (a half pitch of 20 nm). Using BCP self assembly techniques, amask line with a total line width x and space between y of less than 40nm (a half pitch of 20 nm) can be patterned.

Starting with FIGS. 3A and 3B, one example embodiment for formingconnections to closely spaced conductive lines is now described. FIGS.4A and 4B illustrate top down and cross-sectional views of the FIG. 3A,3B structure covered with a light-sensitive photoresist material 33. Anycommon photoresist material 33 may be used, including positivephotoresist materials (such as DNQ-Novolac) and negative photoresistmaterials (such as SU-8).

Using conventional photolithographic techniques, the photoresistmaterial 33 is selectively exposed to radiation through a mask patterneddiagonally across the mask lines 13 so that, when exposed to a suitabledeveloper, the exposed (or unexposed—depending on whether the materialis a positive or negative photoresist material) areas of the photoresistare removed. As shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, the remaining photoresistmaterial 33 provides an angled profile and forms a cutting mask 43,which can be used to remove exposed materials of the mask lines 13. FIG.5A illustrates a cutting mask 43 that has been formed at an angle, e.g.between about 5 degrees and 30 degrees relative to the linearlyextending direction 29, across the mask lines. FIG. 5B shows across-section at a location where the photoresist material 33 has beenremoved, and FIG. 5C shows a cross-section at a location where thephotoresist material 33 forming the cutting mask 43 remains, coveringthe mask lines 13.

Next, the area not covered by the cutting mask 43 is etched down tooxide top material 41, removing the exposed portions of the mask lines13. The remaining photoresist 33 is then removed. FIGS. 6A and 6Billustrate top down and cross-sectional views after thephotolithographic and etch process has been completed, and the remainingphotoresist material 33 forming the cutting mask 43 has been removed.The mask lines 13 have been cut cross-wise at a diagonal to createangled ends 22. Because of the angled profile of cutting mask 43, eachmask line 13 is cut at a different linearly extending location along theextending direction 29 of the lines 13. In the embodiment illustrated inFIGS. 6A and 6B, and as one example, the mask lines 13 may have a widthof 15 nm, and the cut forms an angle of approximately 10 degrees at theangled ends 22. The resulting length of the exposed angled end 22 isabout 68 nm, presenting a surface significantly longer than the 1 nmwidth of the mask lines 13. This provides a larger surface area forcreating a mask extension for use in forming an electrical contactlanding pad, as described below, than if the mask lines 13 were cutcross-wise to form square ends. Additionally, the overall layout of themask lines 13—wherein the parallel lines are cut at different respectivelengths along the extending direction 29—provides a larger usable areafor forming mask extensions.

Next, extensions of the parallel mask lines 13, here shown as contactlanding pad masks 23, are formed at the angled ends 22 of the parallelmask lines 13, as shown in FIGS. 7, 8, and 9A. The contact landing padmasks 23 are formed by using a material 73 exposed at the angled ends 22of the mask lines 13 as seed to grow a contact landing pad mask 23 nextto the exposed angled ends 22 of each mask line 13. Because the material73 at the exposed angled ends 22 of each mask line 13 is the nucleationseed for subsequent growth of contact landing pad masks 23, the padmasks 23 are self-aligned to the line ends 22. The self-aligned natureavoids overlay and pattern registration errors associated withphotolithograpical patterning methods. FIG. 7 shows isotropic growth ofcontact landing pad masks 23, and FIGS. 8 and 9A show contact landingpad masks 23 grown anisotropically. Various methods can be used to growself aligned contact landing pad masks 23 from the mask line 13materials, depending on the composition of the material 73 within masklines 13.

For example, the mask material 73 of the mask lines 13 may be a polymer,such as photoresist material or self-assembled BCP cylinders. In thisexample, a seed material for selective deposition can been blended withthe polymer, or a seed species can be included in the molecularstructure of the polymer. For example, a metal seed material may beincorporated in the polymer structure as an organometallic material (byblending) or organometallic functional group (by reacting). Afterforming the polymer mask 13, the organometallic may or may not bereduced (or oxidized) to facilitate its activity as a seed material,via, e.g. thermal baking or irradative exposure). Alternatively, if seedmaterial is not pre-blended with the polymer, a seed layer may beselectively formed at the angled ends 22 of mask lines 13 byfunctionalizing a seed material to react with and bond to exposedpolymer material 73 at the angled ends 22. The seed material may also beselectively formed on the polymer mask material 73 exposed at the angledends 22 by using conventional staining techniques. If the mask material73 is a photoresist, the material 73 may or may not be treated to renderthem insoluble in the solvent from which the photoresist material 33 ofthe cutting mask 43 is cast. Such treatment may include thermalcross-linking, acid catalyzed cross-linking, or other commercial“freeze” treatments used for double-patterning photolithography.

In these examples, where the mask material is a seeded polymer material,extension contact landing pad masks 23 are grown via selectivedeposition of materials onto the seed material at the angled ends 22.Any now known or later developed selective deposition technique can beused to deposit materials on the seed material. For example, if the seedmaterial is a metal material, then selective chemical vapor deposition(CVD) techniques can be used to deposit materials such as tungsten (W)or titanium (Ti), or Atomic layer deposition (ALD) techniques can beused to deposit materials such as platinum (Pt) and rhodium (Rh) on theseeded material 73. Materials can also be deposited on a metal seededmaterial 73 using electroless plating techniques, including electrolessplating of nickel (Ni), nickel alloy (e.g. NiCoW), cobalt (Co), etc.

The mask material 73 of the mask lines 13 could also be a hardmaskmaterial, such as silicon, polysilicon, or metal. In this example, theextension contact landing pad masks 23 can be grown via selectivedeposition of materials directly on the mask material 73 exposed at theangled ends 22 of the mask lines 13. For a hardmask material 73 thatcontains metals, electroless plating or selective CVD, or ALD processedcan be used. For a silicon or polysilicon hardmask material 73,epitaxial silicon or polysilicon growth may be used.

In the presented examples, where the mask material 73 of the mask lines13 is a seeded polymer or other hardmask material, an encapsulationinsulating material 51 formed prior to the photoresist deposition andangled cut of FIGS. 5A through 6B confines nucleation and growth of theextension contact landing pad masks 23 to the mask material 73 exposedat the angled ends 22 of the mask lines 13. For BCP cylinders, matrixphase material surrounding the BCP cylinders could also be used toconfine growth to the angled ends 22 of the mask lines 13.

Also, in the presented examples, a trim or etch-back may be applied tothe encapsulation insulating material 51, pulling the material 51 backaway from the exposed angled ends 22 of the mask lines 13. A trim oretch-back may or may not be applied in order to regulate the amount ofexposed surface for the subsequent selective deposition and contactlanding pad growth steps. For electroless plating or selective CVD orALD processes, the contact landing pad masks 23 may be grownisotropically, as shown in FIG. 7, or anisotropically, as shown in FIGS.8 and 9A. For epitaxial silicon or polysilicon growth, the contactlanding pad masks 23 may be grown anisotropically.

Once the self-aligned contact landing pad mask 23 is grown, using any ofthe processes described above, the combined mask pattern can betransferred to the underlying materials via etch to form spacedconductive lines having sufficiently large contact landing pads. FIG. 9Aillustrates a perspective view of the mask lines 13 with extensioncontact landing pad masks 23 grown at the angled ends 22. The mask lines13 and associated contact landing pad masks 23 are then used as a hardmask for etching through the underlying materials 31, 35, 37, 41. InFIG. 9B, the combined mask pattern has been transferred to theunderlying materials via etch, the remaining mask material has beenremoved, and an insulating material 71, such as a boron phosphoroussilicon glass material has been deposited. The resulting conductivelines 50, which may be provided for use as word lines, have a gate oxide31, a polysilicon 35, a metal silicide 37, and oxide top material 41.The conductive lines 50 each have a contact landing pad area 25 formedat an end. The angled cut of mask lines 13 and selective growth ofextension contact landing pad masks 23 at the mask layer enables thepatterning of a sufficiently large electrical contact landing pad area25, even though the conductive lines 50 may be closely spaced. Theelectrical contact landing pad areas 25 are sufficiently large toprovide an electrical connection to the conductive lines 50, but arespaced apart a sufficient amount to provide electrical isolation amongthe respective electrical contact landing pad areas 25. FIG. 9C shows across section view of the electrical contact landing pad areas 25 of theconductive lines 50 of FIG. 9B.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate a method of forming electrical connectionsto the electrical contact landing pad area 25 illustrated in FIG. 9C. InFIG. 10A, a via 55 is formed using conventional techniques. The via isformed through the insulating material 71 and the oxide top material 41,down to the metal silicide 37. A conductive material 45, e.g.polysilicon or metal, is deposited over the insulating material 71,forming an electrical connection to the metal silicide material 37.Thus, electrically isolated electrical connections can be made eventhough the conductive lines 50 are closely spaced. Though thisembodiment is described with reference to forming connections toconductive lines 50 on a semiconductor substrate 11, it should beunderstood that the technique described herein could be applied to formelectrical connections to conductive lines 50 in any conductive layer ofa semiconductor device.

FIGS. 11A through 11C illustrate another embodiment wherein the masklines 13 with extension contact landing pad masks 23 grown at the angledends 22 are used to etch into an underlying conductive material. In thisembodiment, the conductive material comprises a single metal layer 67which may, for example, be provided along an upper level of asemiconductor device. The metal layer 67 is here shown above aninsulating material 81, but it could be at any layer of thesemiconductor structure. The mask lines 13 with extension contactlanding pad masks pads 23 are formed using the same growth techniquesdescribed above in reference to FIGS. 7, 8 and 9A, including electrolessdeposition, selective CVD or ALD processes, or epitaxial silicon orpolysilicon growth, as examples, depending on the material 73 used forthe mask lines 13. An electrical connection can be made to theelectrical contact landing pad 25 illustrated in FIG. 11C using the sametechnique described above in reference to FIGS. 10A and 10B.

FIGS. 12A through 12C illustrate yet another embodiment wherein the masklines 13 with extension contact landing pad masks 23 grown at the angledends 22 are used to etch into an underlying material stack which may beused for wordlines. This embodiment differs from the embodimentillustrated in FIGS. 9A through 9C in that the lines of mask material 73are not covered with encapsulation insulating material 51. Here, thephotoresist material 33 forming the cutting mask 43 is applied directlyover material 73 of lines 13 and is not removed after the mask lines 13are cut. As a result, the cutting mask 43 acts as an encapsulatinggrowth-confining material during the growth of the extension contactlanding pad masks 23, so that growth occurs only at the exposed ends 22of the mask lines 13. A optional trim or etch-back may be applied to thephotoresist material 33 in order to regulate the amount of exposedsurface of material 73 for the subsequent selective deposition andcontact landing pad growth steps. As in the FIGS. 7, 8 and 9Aembodiments, contact landing pad masks 23 can be grown using anyselective deposition technique, including electroless deposition,selective CVD or ALD processes, or epitaxial silicon or polysilicongrowth, as examples, depending on the material used for the mask 73. Aconnection can be made to the electrical contact landing pad 25illustrated in FIG. 12C using the same technique described above inreference to FIGS. 10A and 10B.

In another embodiment, BCP cylinders with extension pad masks 85 areused to pattern both the mask lines 13 and the contact landing pad masks23. FIG. 13 shows a mask material 73 covered by a self-assembled BCPmaterial with BCP cylinders 80 (comprising, for example, PS) formed in amatrix phase material 82 (comprising, for example PMMA). The BCPcylinders can be formed with a half-pitch below 20 nm. The matrix phasematerial 82 has been selectively exposed to light at an angle across theextending direction of the BCP cylinders 80, and placed in a suitabledeveloper to form an angled mask. The mask formed of the matrix phasematerial 82 is then used as a cutting mask to cut angled ends 22 in theBCP cylinders 80. Alternatively, the mask and cut could be performedusing a conventional photoresist material 33 above the BCP material as acutting mask 43 to cut the BCP cylinders 80 and the matrix phasematerial 82 at an angle (or to cut only the BCP cylinders 80 at anangle, if the matrix phase material 82 is removed prior to the mask andcut). An optional trim or etch-back may be applied to the matrix phasematerial 82. The BCP cylinders may be stained with a metal, such as Pt,W, or other similar metal in order to enhance pattern transfercharacteristics and provide a seed material for selective deposition. Toform extension mask pads 85 (which will be used to pattern contactlanding pad masks 23 in the underlying material), a material at theexposed angled ends 22 of the BCP cylinders 80, such as the stained Pt,W, or other similar metal, acts as seed for growth. Selective depositionof materials on this seed can be performed using processes such aselectroless plating or selective CVD or ALD processes. In thisembodiment, the matrix phase material 82 or cutting mask 43 confinesnucleation and growth of the extension mask pads 85 to the angled ends22. The extension mask pads 85 may be isotropically (shown) oranisotropically grown.

Once the extension mask pads 85 have been formed, the matrix phasematerial 82 is removed through appropriate etching or developingtechniques known in the art. The remaining BCP cylinders 80 withextension masks pads 85 can be used as a mask to etch a blanketdeposited underlying hard mask material 73. FIG. 14 shows the mask lines13 with the attached contact landing pad masks 23 formed by this etch ofmaterial 73. The remaining underlying materials, including materials 41,37, 35, and 31, can then be etched using mask lines 13 and the contactlanding pad masks 23 using the process described above in reference toFIGS. 9B and 9C. Electrical connections to the resulting contact landingpads 25 can be formed using the process described above in reference toFIGS. 10A and 10B.

In another embodiment, line extensions forming electrical contactlanding pads 25 can be grown directly on the conductive lines 50. FIG.15 illustrates a perspective view of example conductive lines 50, suchas a wordlines. As an example, these conductive lines 50 have beenformed with, an oxide top material 41, a metal silicide 37, and apolysilicon 35 over a gate oxide 31 and a semiconductor substrate 11.The gate oxide 31 is not etched into the conductive line patterns, sothat the later formed contact landing pads 25 will be electricallyisolated from the semiconductor substrate 11. An insulating material 51,such as an oxide, encapsulates the material stack 35, 37, 41. If theconductive lines 50 are patterned using current double patterning andspacer pitch doubling techniques, the half pitch of the lines may bebetween about 45 nm and about 20 nm. Using self-assembled BCP mask andetch techniques, the half pitch of the patterned conductive lines 50 maybe from about 20 nm and below.

The conductive lines 50 of FIG. 15 have all been cut at an angle, i.e.an angle of between 5 degrees and 30 degrees relative to the linearlyextending direction to form angled ends 22, using the angled cuttingmask technique illustrated in FIGS. 4A through 6B to cut the conductivelines 50 and form angled ends 22. In FIG. 15, a trim or etch-back hasbeen performed on the encapsulation insulating material 51, removingmaterial 51 away from the exposed face of materials 31, 35, 37, and 41.A trim or etch-back may or may not be performed in order to regulate theamount of exposed surface for the subsequent electrical contact landingpad 25 growth step. The conductive lines 50 illustrated in FIG. 15 arean example of one conductive line configuration, but the techniquedescribed herein can be applied to conductive lines having otherconfigurations and with other conductive materials, for example, a metalline.

FIG. 16 illustrates isotropic growth of an electrical contact landingpad 25 from an embodiment with parallel conductive lines 50 havingangled ends 22 with no trim or etch back. In this embodiment, like thatof FIG. 15, a encapsulation insulating material 51 is formed overconductive lines 50. The extension electrical contact landing pads 25are formed by using materials exposed at the angled ends 22, such as thepolysilicon 35 and/or the metal silicide 37, as examples, as a seed toisotropically grow an electrical contact landing pad 25 at the exposedends of the conductive line 50. Selective deposition of conductivematerials on this seed can be performed using processes such aselectroless plating or selective CVD or ALD. The encapsulationinsulating material 51 confines nucleation and growth to the angled ends22. The electrical contact landing pads 25 are self-aligned to theangled end 22, the latter of which forms the seed layer for electricalcontact landing pad 25 growth. FIG. 16 shows the electrical contactlanding pad 25 as an isotropic growth, however, an anisotropic growthmay also be performed.

FIG. 17A shows in top view and 17B shows in cross sectional view amethod of making an electrical connection to a conductive line 50 havingan electrical contact landing pad 25, such as the conductive line ofFIG. 16. The conductive line 50 has been cut at an angle, and anelectrical contact landing pad 25 has been isotropically grown from theangled end 22. Using conventional techniques, a via 55 is formed throughan insulating material 71 above the electrical contact landing pad 25. Aconnecting metal material 45 is deposited over the insulating layer andthe via 55 so that it forms a connection to the electrical contactlanding pad 25.

FIG. 18 illustrates a perspective view of another embodiment withconductive lines 50 having the construction of FIG. 15 and having angledends 22 and here showing anisotropically grown electrical contactlanding pads 25. In this embodiment, like that of FIG. 16, anencapsulation insulating material 51 is formed over the conductive lines50, and no etch-back has been applied at the angled ends 22. Theextension electrical contact landing pads 25 are formed using the samegrowth techniques described above in reference to FIG. 16, includingelectroless deposition or selective CVD or ALD on the polysilicon 35and/or the metal silicide 37 materials. An electrical connection can bemade to the electrical contact landing pad 25 illustrated in FIG. 18Cusing the same technique described above in reference to FIGS. 17A and17B.

FIG. 19 illustrates another embodiment with conductive lines 50 havingangled ends 22 and anisotropically grown electrical contact landing pads25. The embodiment of FIG. 19 differs from the embodiment of FIG. 18 inthat the conductive line 50 comprises a single metal layer 67encapsulated by insulating material 51. As in the FIG. 18 embodiment,extension electrical contact landing pads 25 are formed by usingmaterial exposed at the angled ends 22, here the metal layer 67, as aseed to anisotropically grow an electrical contact landing pad 25 at theexposed ends of the conductive line 50. Selective deposition ofmaterials on this seed can be performed using processes such aselectroless plating, or selective CVD or ALD processes. FIG. 19, likeFIG. 18, shows the electrical contact landing pad 25 as an anisotropicgrowth. Connections can be made to the electrical contact landing pads25 using the process described above in reference to FIGS. 17A and 17B.

FIG. 20 illustrates a perspective view of another embodiment withconductive lines 50 having angled ends 22 with anisotropically grownelectrical contact landing pads 25. The embodiment of FIG. 20 differsfrom the embodiments of FIGS. 15 through 18 in that the conductive lines50 are not individually covered by a respective insulating material 51.In this embodiment, the photoresist material 33 forming the cutting mask43 is not removed after the conductive lines 50 are cut, and the cuttingmask 43 acts as an encapsulating growth-confining material during thegrowth of the electrical contact landing pads 25, so that growth occursonly at the exposed ends 22 of the conductive lines 50. As in otherembodiments, an etch back may or may not be performed on to thephotoresist material 33 at the angled ends 22 of the conductive lines50. Extension electrical contact landing pads 25 are formed using thesame growth techniques described above in reference to FIG. 16,including electroless deposition or selective CVD or ALD on polysilicon35 and/or metal silicide 37, as examples. Connections can be made to theelectrical contact landing pads 25 using the process described above inreference to FIGS. 17A and 17B.

FIG. 21 illustrates an embodiment with metalized BCP cylinders 80forming conductive lines 50 with extension contact landing pads 25. Aself-assembled BCP material with BCP cylinders 80 (comprising, forexample, PS) formed in a matrix phase material 82 (comprising, forexample PMMA) is formed over a gate oxide material 31. The matrix phasematerial 82 has been selectively exposed to light at an angle across theextending direction of the BCP cylinders 80, and placed in a suitabledeveloper to form an angled mask. The mask formed of the matrix phasematerial 82 is then used as a cutting mask to cut angled ends 22 in theBCP cylinders 80. Alternatively, the mask and cut could be performedusing a conventional photoresist material 33 above the BCP material as acutting mask 43 to cut the BCP cylinders 80 and the matrix phasematerial 82 at an angle (or to cut only the BCP cylinders 80 at anangle, if the matrix phase material 82 is removed prior to the mask andcut). An optional trim or etch-back may be applied to the matrix phasematerial 82 (or a cutting mask 43), pulling the material 82 back awayfrom the exposed angled ends 22 of the BCP cylinders 80. The BCPcylinders may be stained with a metal, such as Pt, W, or other similarmetal in order to functionalize them as a conductive line and to providea seed material for selective deposition. To form extension electricalcontact landing pads 25, a material at the exposed angled ends 22 of theBCP cylinders 80, such as the stained Pt, W, or other similar metal,acts as seed for growth. Selective deposition of materials on this seedcan be performed using processes such as electroless plating orselective CVD or ALD processes. In this embodiment, the matrix phasematerial 82 confines nucleation and growth of the electrical contactlanding pads to the angled ends 22. A photoresist material 33 couldperform the same function as the matrix phase material 82 in thisembodiment. The contact landing pads 25 may be isotropically (shown) oranisotropically grown.

The above description and drawings are only to be consideredillustrative of specific embodiments, which achieve the features andadvantages described herein. Modifications and substitutions forspecific conditions and materials can be made. Accordingly, theembodiments are not considered as being limited by the foregoingdescription and drawings, but is only limited by the scope of theappended claims.

1. A method of fabricating an integrated circuit structure on a supportstructure, the method comprising: forming a plurality of linearlyextending lines of at least one material; cutting said material lines atan angle relative a linearly extending direction to form respectiveangled end faces at each of the material lines, said respective angledend faces being spaced in the linearly extending direction; and formingan extension of each of said material lines at each respective angledend face.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said material lines areparallel material lines.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein said angledend faces are cut using a mask and etching process to form the angledend faces of the parallel material lines simultaneously.
 4. The methodof claim 2, wherein said angle is between 5 degrees and 30 degreesrelative to the linearly extending direction.
 5. The method of claim 2,wherein said parallel material lines have a half pitch of 45 nm or less.6. The method of claim 2, wherein said parallel material lines have ahalf pitch of 20 nm or less.
 7. The method of claim 2, wherein saidparallel material lines are formed using a self-assembled blockcopolymer mask.
 8. The method of claim 2, further comprising coveringsaid parallel material lines with an encapsulation insulating materialprior to cutting said parallel material lines.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein said extensions are grown via selective deposition of a padmaterial at said respective angled end faces.
 10. The method of claim 1,further comprising etching a conductive material provided below saidparallel material lines and respective extensions using said parallelmaterial lines and respective extensions as an etch mask to formconductive lines having respective electrical contact landing pad areas.11. The method of claim 10, wherein said at least one material is one ofa photoresist, a block copolymer, a silicon, a polysilicon, and a metal.12. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one material is aprocessed block copolymer and further comprising: etching a maskmaterial provided below said parallel material lines and respectiveextensions using said parallel material lines and respective extensionsas an etch mask to form a mask pattern; and etching a conductivematerial provided below said mask pattern using said mask pattern as asecond etch mask to form conductive lines having respective electricalcontact landing pads.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein said at leastone material comprises at least one conductive material and saidextension is an electrically conductive contact landing pad.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, wherein said conductive material comprises at leastone of a metal, a metal silicide, and a polysilicon.
 15. The method ofclaim 13, wherein a conductive material exposed at said angled end facesis used as a seed to grow said electrically conductive contact landingpads via selective deposition of a conductive material at said angledend.
 16. A method of fabricating an integrated circuit structure, themethod comprising: forming a plurality of parallel spaced linearlyextending material lines; etching said material lines at an anglerelative to the extending direction of said material lines to formrespective angled end faces at each of the parallel material lines, saidrespective angled end faces being spaced in the linearly extendingdirection; forming a contact landing pad mask in contact with each ofsaid angled end faces; and using said material lines and said contactlanding pad masks as an etch mask to etch a conductive material belowsaid material lines and contact landing pad masks to form a plurality ofconductive lines with a half-pitch of 45 nm or less having respectiveconductive contact landing pad areas.
 17. The method of claim 16,further comprising covering said material lines with an encapsulationinsulating material prior to etching said material lines.
 18. The methodof claim 16, wherein said angled end faces are cut using a mask andetching process to form the angled end faces of the material linessimultaneously.
 19. The method of claim 16, wherein said angle isbetween 5 degrees and 30 degrees relative to the linearly extendingdirection.
 20. The method of claim 16, wherein said conductive lineshave a half pitch of 20 nm or less.
 21. The method of claim 16, whereinsaid material lines comprise one of a processed photoresist, a processedblock copolymer, a silicon, a polysilicon, and a metal.
 22. The methodof claim 16, wherein said growth includes using at least a portion ofthe material line at the angled end face as a seed, and growing saidcontact landing pad masks from the seed via selective deposition of anextension material.
 23. The method of claim 22, wherein said selectivedeposition is one of chemical vapor deposition, atomic layer deposition,electroless plating, or epitaxial growth.
 24. The method of claim 16,wherein said electrical contact landing pad areas are sufficiently largeto form an area for electrical connection to the respective conductivelines, but are spaced apart a sufficient amount to provide electricalisolation among the respective electrical contact landing pads.
 25. Amethod of fabricating an integrated circuit structure, the methodcomprising: forming a plurality of parallel spaced linearly extendingconductive lines; etching said conductive lines at an angle relative tothe extending direction of said conductive lines to form respectiveangled end faces at each of said conductive lines, said angled end facesbeing spaced in the linearly extending direction; and forming anelectrical contact landing pad in contact with each of said respectiveangled end faces.
 26. The method of claim 25, further comprisingcovering said conductive lines with an encapsulation insulating materialprior to cutting said material lines.
 27. The method of claim 25,wherein said angled end faces are cut using a mask and etching processto form the angled end faces of the conductive lines simultaneously. 28.The method of claim 25, wherein said angle is between 5 degrees and 30degrees relative to the linearly extending direction.
 29. The method ofclaim 25, wherein said conductive lines have a half pitch of 20 nm orless.
 30. The method of claim 25, wherein at least one layer of saidconductive lines comprise one of a metal, a metal silicide, and apolysilicon.
 31. The method of claim 25, wherein said electrical contactlanding pads are formed by using at least a portion of the conductiveline at the angled end face as a seed, and growing an electrical contactlanding pad from the seed via selective deposition of a conductivematerial.
 32. The method of claim 31, wherein said selective depositionis one of chemical vapor deposition, atomic layer deposition orelectroless plating.
 33. The method of claim 25, wherein said electricalcontact landing pads are sufficiently large to form an area forelectrical connection to the respective lines, but are spaced apart asufficient amount to provide electrical isolation among the respectiveelectrical contact landing pads.
 34. An integrated circuit comprising: aplurality of parallel linearly extending electrically conductive linesformed as part of said integrated circuit, the conductive lines eachhaving an angled end face at a different location along the linearlyextending direction of said lines; and a contact landing pad formed inelectrical contact with each angled end face.
 35. The integrated circuitof claim 34, wherein said conductive lines have a half-pitch of lessthan 45 nm.
 36. The integrated circuit of claim 35, wherein saidconductive lines have a half-pitch of less than 20 nm.
 37. Theintegrated circuit of claim 34, wherein said angled end faces are at anangle of between 5 degrees and 30 degrees relative to the linearlyextending direction.
 38. The integrated circuit of claim 34, whereinsaid conductive lines comprise a poly-silicon material and a metalsilicide material.
 39. The integrated circuit of claim 34, wherein saidconductive lines comprise a metal material.
 40. The integrated circuitof claim 34, wherein said conductive lines form at least one ofwordlines and bitlines of a memory device.